


All The Things She Said

by WhiteFoxKitsune (ProwlingThunder)



Category: Pandect (Webcomic)
Genre: Actual Romance, Animals with Souls, Character Death, F/M, Gen, Platonic Romance, Shapeshifters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2016-09-24
Packaged: 2018-08-17 02:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8126063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProwlingThunder/pseuds/WhiteFoxKitsune
Summary: When he learns his mother is dying, Yuè remembers some key moments in his life when she was always there, and how she could always fix everything.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Once upon a time ago, I was involved in the official RPG for the Pandect webcomic. It died, eventually, but I still remember it fondly. The following fic is a couple of my characters and one belonging to a friend and a few we made together...
> 
> Sassy belongs to Blue. The Twins belong to the pair of us. Everyone else is mine. (Man, this fic is so old..)

The tiger sighed as he stepped inside his apartment, closing the door behind him as he made his way through the living room to the kitchen for something to eat. A little red flashing dot caught his attention.  
  
\----  
  
 _The person your calling for isn't here right now, leave a message, please.  
  
Yuè? This is Chun Sai, I was your neighbor back during highschool, remember? Look... I'm calling about your mother-- she's not doing so well, Yuè.  
  
\----  
  
"Oh, Yuè, you're bleeding..! Let me see. What happend?"  
  
Golden eyes turned up to a concerned pair that matched, and the boy's face twitched a little. He didn't quite understand the concern. He'd only cut himself on a rock, but he held up his palm obidiently, letting Mother examine it.  
  
Mother was beautiful, tanned stripes on pale skin and long orange hair drawn up into a elegant bun. Her eyes were a brilliant calming gold that he knew was not natural. Nobody else had eyes like they did.  
  
The child let his gaze drift over his mother's features, and with his free hand reached up tenatively to run his fingertips over the pale marks beneeth her eyes and over the bridge of her nose.  
  
They were light enough to be scar tissue, but Mother was too strong to ever be injured.  
  
Mother smiled faintly, and he giggled as she kissed his injured palm and drew him into a hug. "You'll heal nicely, my baby.. Come, let's go wash you up, okay?"  
  
"Okay!"  
  
\----  
  
Mother was always home when he got there.  
  
She only worked a few hours in the morning, and a few hours after dark. She was always up in the mornings to make him breakfast and get him off to school before going on her own, and she would be there to help him with his work when he got home.  
  
Just like she was now, and Yuè couldn't have been more delighted as he sat his things down on the kitchen table, arranging them like he always did.  
  
"How was school?"  
  
"It was quite enjoyable, Mother." Yuè replied, gold eyes raising to look over at his mother, who stood by the stove boiling water for the usual cup of tea they drank together while working.  
  
"Hmm.. you sound like you had a good time. Did something new happen?"  
  
"We received a new student in our class today."  
  
Mother was practically beaming when she turned to look at him, figuring he had made a friend, no doubt. Yuè, unfortunately, was a slight trouble-maker at school.  
  
When the children were left to themselves, bullying tended to start up and he had been brought up to stick up for the less fortunate. He found himself confronting bullies and defending people who didn't care, and in turn had become a slight bully himself.  
  
It didn't look good on his record next to his good grades, and he was generally avoided, but...  
  
"Who is he?"  
  
"Her name is Zoèng Ying."  
  
Mother paused, a thoughtful expression on her face, but it quickly passed away. Yuè didn't know what she was thinking. "I see.. is she pretty?"  
  
"She is beautiful, Mother..."  
  
\----  
  
Yuè did not remember crying as much as he had, once he had closed the door to their apartment. Mother was still at work when he arrived, because of the time.  
  
He wasn't late home from school. It had been a middle-school dance, and he'd taken the beautiful Zoèng Ying because she had no one else to go with, and neither did he. To be honest, nothing had made him happier then when he'd gone to pick her up from her home and walk her to the dance. They had had so much to talk about. School, friendship, the future, romance. Yuè had to admit that in the latter, he was a bit inexperienced, but he knew he had been crushing on her since the first day they'd met.  
  
She was the only one who hadn't shyed away from him after he stuck up for her. It had been her first day, so he'd just always put it up to her not knowing his reputation before hand.  
  
Tonight, however.. things had gone horribly wrong. He had wanted to show her the most spectacular night. He'd brought her a small bundle of orchids, worn his hair drawn back, had pressed his clothes until they were as crisp and clean as they could have been. Only the White Prince himself could have made them better.  
  
Unfortunately, the one who'd borne them all souls had not smiled on him this night. It hurt.  
  
Yuè raised his head a little to peer over his arms when he heard the front door open, and saw his mother step into the doorway of the kitchen. She looked so surprised to see him there, and it only made Yuè feel even worse. He buried his face again.  
  
"Yuè, what's wrong? I thought you were dancing with that nice Miss Zoèng girl."  
  
Yuè made a discontented noise and didn't move, at least not until he felt her concerned hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Yuè, did something go wrong?"  
  
"She is a human.."  
  
"Oh, my baby... I am so sorry.."  
  
The blue-haired teen didn't fight when Mother pulled him into a comforting embrace and let him cry his heart out.  
  
\----  
  
Mother was on the verge of tears, standing there with him before his wedding. She looked so proud, and it made Yuè feel all the more better about his promise. If Mother was proud of him, he had no worries.  
  
"I can't believe your finally getting married... I thought you'd just come back to the woods and never come out again."  
  
Yuè smiled faintly, feeling a little amused by Mother's blissful babbling. She was more then a little happy this day had come, but he knew how forboding this was.  
  
Marrying Ling... Even though he loved her, there could be nothing more but friendship between them. He knew this and he wouldn't be about to break it. If he hadn't of felt this the best way to help her, he would have denied the idea from the start.  
  
But he had promised to help her in any way possible, to protect her and her unborn cub. Despite everything, he wanted this as much as he did not want it.  
  
Like the child he had been ages ago, he reached up with one hand to brush his fingers over the pale marks once again. This was the last time he felt he could act like a child. Soon enough, he would be the father to his best friend's child.  
  
"..thank you for supporting me, Mother."  
  
"Yuè...if you had jumped off a cliff, I'd have supported you."  
  
His lips twitched into a smile.  
  
"Thank you. It means a good deal to me."  
  
\----  
  
"Yuè, stop pacing..! You're making my head spin."  
  
Yuè jerked his head up, gold eyes falling onto Mother, who held a small bundle in her hands.  
  
Today was the day Ling was giving birth, and he was surprised to realise he'd been so worried he hadn't even realised the pained cries from the woman he loved had stopped.  
  
Mother was grinning in amusement. Yuè took a cautious step foreward, golden eyes focased on the wrapped bundle in her hands and completely oblivious to the look on Mother's face. He practically jumped out of his skin, though, when a hand shot out of the wrapping and snatched a handful of his hair.  
  
Yuè panicked. Mother laughed at him. "Say hello to your son, Yuè."  
  
\----  
  
He cried more then he had when he learned Ying was human. He cried so much he thought he might die, and he looked thoroughly pitiful when Mother openned the door to look at his rain-soaked and filty self. He had honestly never felt worse. He wanted to die, just to make the pain go away. It hurt that bad.  
  
For some reason though, he'd come all the way from the hermitage to the city. He'd soaked the carpeted halls of the apartment complex.  
  
He didn't know why he'd come to Mother. Maybe it was because Mother had always made everything better before. Maybe it was just because he had no where else to go.  
  
"Yuè?"  
  
"...they are dead..." Whatever strength he had crashed to the earth as his voice broke and a fresh wave of tears came. He'd said it- it hurt worse to admit they were really gone. To say it was to believe it. A part of him died inside, and he collapsed to his knees, reaching out to bury his face in his mother's stomach.  
  
"Oh Yuè...!"  
  
\----  
  
Yuè leaned against the wall, phone to his ear, eyes closed. Mother's astounded voice on the other end of the phone was also sad.  
  
"I wish I could come, Yuè...but I can't get off work right now and Chen's a handful.. I'm sorry. You know I'd love to be there for your wedding."  
  
"It's alright, Mother. We'll send you some pictures. Maybe next summer we can come out and visit?"  
  
Mother laughed on the other side of the phone. Yuè winced a little. "Absolutely! I can't wait to meet this pretty lady of yours."  
  
"She is beautiful, Mother..."  
  
\----  
  
"I can't believe it- twins?"  
  
"Two born Aces, Mother! They are beautiful... She's a little tiger, and he's a precious spotted thing."  
  
"Oh Yuè, you have to send me pictures...!"  
  
"We will. I'm sorry we couldn't come to visit."  
  
Mother laughed. "It's alright, baby.. I know how little ones change plans so quickly. Maybe another time?"  
  
Yuè smiled, even though Mother couldn't see it over the phone. "As soon as we get the chance. I'm sorry it's taking so long."  
  
"Silly boy, take all the time you need. I'll be here forever."  
  
\----  
  
...she needs to see you, Yuè. It could be the last chance she gets._  
  
\----  
  
Mother was bedridden.  
  
Yuè had never seen her in such a state. Her orange hair had faded a bit, but her marks were still the same and her golden eyes glittered with pride and unshead mirth. She looked so weak and frail that Yuè had to step back out of the room to compose himself.  
  
It took a whole ten minutes, and he finally felt he was ready to step back inside. He tried not to look at Mother at first, but his resolve was fast failing. He found his eyes drawn to a orange-haired adolescent, probably nearing thirteen now. The boy didn't look altogether friendly, a bunch of darkend marks on his face that Yuè could see. Like Mother, only more, a lot darker, and a lot less straight.  
  
He had the same golden eyes, however, and that was the biggest indication of who he was. Shèng Chèn Yuè, Mother's son. Yuè couldn't believe he'd been away from the main land so long that he'd never actually set eyes on his baby brother. It stung and bit at the same time. He'd gotten so caught up in his own life he had forgotten to make time for Mother and her other child.  
  
The other just glared at him. Yuè couldn't blame him; they had never met. He was just a cub protecting what was his. Yuè almost smiled- Adam and Eve were the same.  
  
"Yuè, thank you for coming on such short notice..."  
  
"Mother...! You should not sit up." Yuè hastily traversed the distance between the door and the bedside, pushing Mother back down into a laying posistion. Mother laughed at him, but complied, and Yuè felt a little better about it all.  
  
Perhaps coming had not been a bad idea after all.  
  
"...daddy?"  
  
Yuè turned a little to look at his daughter, who clung to her Mother's leg protectively. Sassy stood in the doorway, and Yuè's expression dropped a little. "Come here, my little ones.. I would like to introduce you to someone very special to me."  
  
Mother smiled. "...picture's hardly do justice to your family, Yuè."  
  
"...thank you, Mother."  
  
\----  
  
The hermitage was quiet. Yuè liked it that way, even though it was hard to look at it and not hurt.  
  
It was just a tiny little gathering around Mother's body. Him, Sassy, the cubs, Chun Sai, a few of Mother's work friends. She'd asked to be buried, like Ling and Shiryuu had requested, and Yuè spent that morning digging. He hadn't been alone. Many of the locals had come- not humans, of course, but tigers and other Aces. Everyone in the wild who'd known her...  
  
When he'd finished, he had to keep working on something. He felt he might break. Hours later, he was placing multiple Chrysanthemum flowers on her grave. It had started to rain well before he had finished, but the humans had left ages ago.  
  
It hurt a lot- he'd never thought it was possible to hurt so badly. So he'd cried and he screamed and then he cried a little more.  
  
This time, Mother wasn't there to make everything better.  
  
\----  
  
 _"Yuè?"_  
  
"Yes, Mother?"  
  
"It will all be okay."  
  
"Thank you, Mother."


End file.
